Triumphator II
A very recent acquisition, but as I am a sucker for punishment, this is without any doubt the largest (well, at least the widest ...) pinwheel calculator in my collection. It’s the original large model Triumphator, in a 9 x 10 x 18 capacity. Its serial number is 7992, and I only know of two other examples, one with a private collector, and one in a museum in Poland, from the Szrek collection. It is not thé largest though, as Triumphator also sold the modell XI, which had a capacity of 12 x 12 x 20. I’ve never seen one of those though, or even a picture of one.
The machine was probably constructed just before the Great War, in 1914. It could possibly also serve as a bombshelter for a mid-size pet ... These earlier models (II) had tens carry only over 13 places in the result register - if you really wanted an 18 digit carry, you’d come up empty. This functionality needed the type IIa (which consequently is also still one kg heavier - 19 instead of 18kg), which was already in production by 1914 - you had a choice!
It came with a very nice (and large) cover, and was bought almost 40 years ago in Viña del Mar, in Chile, very close to Valparaiso, and brought back to Hamburg by a German collector, after a 70 year stay in the Southern hemisphere. Coming back to Europe for one’s retirement, what an idea!
Without further ado, we’ll move on to the pictures:
Just for fun, I added a picture with my smallest machine, a Czechoslovakian Mira.
